dinner

Plasmatoris slowly chews food from the plate before him, and after be a few minutes, he is starting into the unknowable distance. I have almost no idea about the food here, he thinks. While the others talk, he listens with half an ear. He casts Taste of the Spices and Herbs to amplify the food, to get a better analysis of taste. I only half know what I am eating, but it is quite delicious. I definitely should be cautious about being poisoned by these strange folks here. They no longer know me, and I am not Gently Gifted. He takes a deep draught of something while pondering being poisoned.

Then his brain catches up to his ears.

"Parsimonious?" He says aloud. Wonderful word. "What? Sorry. I am easily distracted. I am an sure you have noticed by now.". He closes his eyes and stands slowly. "Familiar. Charter. Parsimony. Charter. Quaesitor. Roster.". He opens his eyes, and from his standing position, reached out to grab more food. Then he sits, and continues. "I would be delighted to assist you, Lares." From his satchel, he pulls out his wax tablet notes on the inhabitants and passes it to the left. "Here are my records so far as to our inhabitants. Take particular note of the skilled artisans, and lack of scribes. I wanted to have copies made for you all, but nobody could do it. Take a look at this for now.". He sips his drink. "I like having two charter addendums to review, I be will look at them both." Looking at Tastheus, he adds, "Congratulations on your former title, friend."
"I have done skill in Muto, and could try to learn the Wizards Vigil, though I had planned to spend the next few months trying to learn about our grounds, and perhaps as bit of language. I sadly have already buried my Gauntleted hopes of studying the art and style.. Anyway." He closes his throat. "I should warm everyone, a gaggle of Faeries had taken up residence in my personal art gallery, including one claiming to act as a muse. My familiar, however, is a beautiful butterfly. Please treat them with all respect and politeness."

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Lares looks concerned.

“That is going to be a problem. Have you considered how you wish to approach this? I would hand in my resignation in your situation, but I can imagine this is not a trivial question for you.”

The visible pain and paleness on Tastheus's face is exceptional. "No, not trivial. This is one of my life amibtions, which I clearly succeeded at, but now is for lack of a better word, unearned."

Argentius's brows arch in surprise as Tastheus shares his discovery. "Damn. That complicates things."

"Agreed."

Zarkut looks at both documents. "I think I prefer the shorter one. For one thing, I believe this longer one is substantial enough to require a Quaesitorial witness, which needlessly complicates Tastheus' position. But also, we have an adequate charter already, which I don't see the need to amend so significantly."

"Does this Tribunal require such a witness? I have not found rulings to that effect in my own notes so far."

He turns to Tastheus. "May I suggest that you travel to Magvillus and inform them? If that's how it works? I don't know that much about procedure... I was strenuous about the need of secrecy before the whole order, but I think the Quaesitors having confidential knowledge of our situation may not be a bad idea."

"Perhaps?" Tastheus grimaces a quick moment. "Though without a flying chariot I fear the trip would be months in the taking. Did anyone find a useful enchant travel item like a carpet or Mercere Portal?"

Lares reviews the draft and listens to the ensuing conversation.

“I find both drafts of exquisite craftsmanship. I would be willing to accept either one, but since the majority seems to favor Argentius’ terse formulation, I would suggest a compromise. What if we sign Argentius’ amendment, but treat Silas’ version as an unofficial guideline or instruction regarding the sorts of things that support and loyalty, as per Argentius’ formulation, might concretely mean in the present situation. Other than perhaps the journal keeping, which I think is a good idea, I had assumed all of the things Silas mentions anyway.”

“It seems that our only connection to the outside world for the foreseeable future will be Aetherius’ mail service, which he estimates might be re-established sometime next year. Unless you wish to brave the desert with a caravan from the oasis, Tastheus - which I advise against - you’ll have to think of a way of resolving this situation via letter. A resignation is one way, but perhaps you can think of another. Do the Quasitores ever take leaves for research or similar?”

“Thank you, Plasmatoris! This will be very useful.”

“If you can learn the Vigil in the allotted time, that would increase the penetration of the Aegis somewhat. It would also be useful to have “spare” casters in case something happens to one of us. But I leave the decision to you, of course.”

The only Mercere Portal I'm aware of is at the redcap hub in Cairo.

Silas shake his head a little and takes back his addendum once everyone has gotten an opportunity to read it. He feels a little bitter but tries to push such emotions away. 0-2... There shall come more opportunities however...

"If the council prefers the shorter addendum we shall move forward with it. Though I suppose there is no point in signing when one magi is missing... Its that Tytali who's absence isnt it? She isnt planning on fulfilling her earlier threat is she?"

Silas looks thoughtfully at the empty seat.

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Plasmatoris has looked over both charters by now, and is chewing thoughtfully on his food. After refilling his plate with more options, he almost absent-mindedly casts another Taste of Spices and Herbs over his setting, and gives a few sample bites before he speaks.

"I like them," he says, after a thought. "In general. And in intent. Magus Argentius clearly wanted to solidify our sense of alliance without trying to push from our current status quo. Magus Silas has, seeing a group from disparate backgrounds in the same situation, sought to forge a bond anew rather than clarify old ones." He takes a drink from the cup next to him, then looks at it, pleasantly surprised. He clears his throat. "I wouldn't sign either of these. Not only because one of our members are missing, but because of what each demands."
Plasmatoris points his eating knife towards Silas. "Your charter addendum is well-written, and seeks to cover a broad field. Your definition of alliance, re-establishing us all as founders, and forgiveness of past grievances is brilliant. I want them in our addendum. However, as already stated, you also bound this addendum to the current situation - you turn this unfortunate event of our reawakening into a cult-binding, a pact to which we all swear to conceal and strive against. I dislike this, not only because it has us all signing possibly seditious material, but because it makes our struggle now into the definition of our covenant. I don't want that as part of our Covenant's core definition."
The Jerbiton turns to look at Argentius, and gives him a broad grin. "I like the reaffirmation of previous solidarity. As a young, newly-gauntleted magus, however, I refuse to sign myself to 'lifelong support and loyalty to the Covenant'. My goals may go elsewhere, and clearly in the past they have."

Then, he returns to his food, with a final few words. "Lets not pretend it is a choice between two addendums, friends. We can eat from a platter of duck, goose, hind and hart without being forced to eat the entire beast."

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Argentius listens to Plasmatoris's viewpoint on the addenda. When the Jerbiton finishes, the Verditius takes a bit of a roasted vegetable.

"You might want to take a few moments to read the existing charter, magus Plasmatoris. I believe it opens with this phrase:"

I pledge my lifelong support and loyalty to the Covenant of Al Kufra, and declare that the trials and
fortunes of this covenant are now my own.

"Your future-self was willing to sign the covenant charter and make the oath. And if I'm not mistaken, Al Kufra's charter is based on the Arae Flaviae standard that is generally accepted by the Quaesitors. Tastheus might be able to clarify that."

Argentius shrugs his shoulders slight before taking another bite, his eyes narrowing.

"But if you object to the 'life long support and loyalty' phrase, then perhaps we have more immediate concerns."

Letting his gaze meet Argentius's, the chaotic young Jerbiton smiles. "I would be happy to read over the Charter again. I am here, and this place is strange and beautiful. Full of wonder, and mystery." He spears a vegetable on a knife, and takes a bite, almost a mirror of the Verditius's actions.
"This other self, this other Plasmatoris, he has made some questionable decisions, which is one of the reasons we are all here now; One of the reasons I have faeries swarming my new sanctum. I accept these unchangeable truths." He gestures with the speared vegetable towards Silas. "Magus Silas wrote that we should forgive past greviances, and I assert we should also forgive past promises. The purpose of the addendum is to re-affirm some of these promises - those we value in our younger selves."

"Embarrassingly, I have no idea about a leave or covenant charters. The basics are that they have one 'work' season per year, in general." The redhead's face pinken slightly. "I am house Tytalus, and while I learned the basics of Hermetic law from my Pater, the goal of becoming a Quaesitor was something I intended to complete later in life, after becoming an Archmage first. Clearly, at some point my future-past self realized becoming a Quaesitor would be easier."

"I would have to agree," Tastheus idly itches his mustache. "Clearly we were able meet, and decide to join forces long ago. Going forward united in direction is important."

“She went that-a-way with the massive unicorn. I told her that it might be dangerous out there in the desert, but her unshakeable Tytalic overconfidence would have none of it.”

Lares listens to the others laying down the law. His expression turns increasingly vacant, and it clearly takes him some effort to focus again.

“Sodales. We are in the middle of an unfamiliar desert. For all we know, we might be running out of food. Let us not get distracted. I propose Plasmatoris, Argentius, and Silas work together to draft an addendum they are all satisfied with. We get signatures when we next meet.”

He exhales loudly.

“Now, who is going to visit the oasis and make sure we keep receiving our food and money and don’t die miserably? I would do it myself, but I should probably stay here to organize the covenfolk. Finding the vis sources is not as urgent, since we can make do with the stores we have for a while, but of course it would be a waste not to start gathering as soon as possible.”

Silas neatly folds his draft and places it along his other possession. Grabbing his goblet, he thinks to himself. Oh it’s a draw then, even better. Feeling more confident after some (in his opinion) well deserved praise, Silas speaks up once more.

“Just for clarification, the 'If this document is destroyed, it's still valid' clause was not some issue of distrust. Rather I would have wanted us to destroy the document together after signing it. Thus, making a Quaesitor witness the addendum impossible and unnecessary. Therefore, it wasn’t really a concern no matter how damning it sounded. But perhaps you are right in that I was a little bit too extreme. Certainly, we could produce an addendum together. These were just first drafts after all. But I agree that its not necessarily something we need to handle now. Traveling to this Oasis does sound important, though I wouldn’t want magi to leave until we are sure the situation here is under control. I am curious about where we burry our dead as well.”

"There were some good things in the draft made by Silas, yes, and I agree we shouldn't throw it all away, that's not the point. Perhaps a new charter based on the old one and some new elements would make sense. In any case, we shouldn't finalise a decision so fundamental in the absence of our sodales. We can work on this some more, and I'm willing to support your idea, Lares, that Plasmatoris, Argentius, and Silas work together on this, but perhaps only after Okeannetis has had a chance to review both documents and weigh in for comments. She went alone in the desert, you say? Did she express she might be late for the meeting tonight? I'm starting to wonder whether she got lost along the way, perhaps, and whether she might need our assistance."

Argentius listen to Plasmatoris and then simply shakes his head, saying nothing. He continues to listen to the others as the discussion continues. He finally pushes forward his mostly empty trencher.

"I'm happy to help look over other drafts. If that's the will of the Council. But let me try to make my thoughts clearer." Argentius rests a hand on the table, leaning forward slightly.

"We are in a very, very delicate and dangerous position, sodales, with issues and risks confronting us on all sides. My strong recommendation is that we resolve one of this issues simply and in so doing protect against at least one other. The first issue: trust. We need to completely trust each other," continues Argentius with a direct look at Silas. "A simple re-affirmation of our already existing Oaths of Covenant satisfies that need. And if we do that simply, parsimoniously, then we do so as a simple addendum to an already existing and sanctioned covenant charter. If we go down a path that results in significant changes to the Charter, we invite inspection by the Quesitori and will require a new approval by them. That seems to be adding problems, not resolving them."

"I agree: Silas's draft has wisdom for how we proceed to solve this bigger issue. I have no issues with that and commend his thinking. I also don't think we need to sign and destroy a secret document. If we trust each other's Oath of Covenant, then that is trust enough to work together to solve our current issues and keep Al Kufra thriving."

Argentius shrugs.

"But I am only one voice in the council."

"Until such a time as we work out a perfect charter, it seems to me that reaffirming the old one and our commitment to each other is the best course of action. That being said, the worry about the need to have our charter witnessed by a quaesitor is a bit technical, so long as our local quaesitor hasn't yet handed in his resignation. I don't think any of us wants a charter that directly contradicts the code anyway."

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Silas looks at his fellow House member. His expression shows signs of irritation as he answers.

"A Quaesitor can only investigate what he knows about. An alternation of a charter need not be a public affair. Personally I dont see the need for approval from one, their time could be so much better spent chasing down some criminal."

Silas nods as Aetherius finishes.

"I wouldnt dream of having anything that directly contradict the Code. All the respect to the customs of our Order. But I would like to note. I didnt swear any Revised Oath of Hermes, nor would I like to before I know what it implies. Likewise I have no ideas the rulings of this African Tribunal... Being cautious with Quaesitori is just a reflection on these uncertainties."

Argentius nods to Aetherius before turning to listen to the other Verditius. "I agree with you, Silas, in principle. I've just had it beaten into my head the need to steer clear of the Quesistori by playing by their rules."

Argentius nods to the others. "I guess I'll have to be at peace with an assumption of good intent." He looks at Silas. "I found no record of a rivalry or vendetta with you, Silas. My assumption is that my future-past self had no issue with you joining Al Kufra. I'll build from that assumption. Heavens knows we have no need to start one now."

Leaning back, the handsome magus adds, "It may be best for me to stay here at Al Kufra to help translate between the factions and our Council where a language barrier might be an issue. I can also work with Silas, if he is willing, to assess the status of enchantments that may be in use around Al Kufra. I have an enchanted cooking stone or oven of sorts in my chambers, for example. We'll need to see what else is about."

"I have to say that, yes, I'd to love to hear about that Revised Oath of Hermes." Aetherius clearly stresses the word revised as he speaks. "Is there any chance our dear Quaesitori in chief of the tribunal could look up his archives for what this means, and any peripheral code ruling that's important to this Tribunal? I would keep a copy of tribunal decisions that form the peripheral code, probably, if I was head of the quaesitoris."

"Yes," Tastheus mirrors Aetherius's emotions. "I can consult my records and the library to see what we have. Please excuse me, I'll be back as quick as I can." The fabulously dressed magus rushes out.

Lares sits with his eyes closed, his fingers crossed on his belly.

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Plasmatoris licks his lips and smiles. "I do look forwards to working with you all," he says. "I do not plan to act against anyone here. I merely refuse to be bound by oaths I did not take. The magi who lived here a day ago - they are not us."

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